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Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Délices Gastronomiques de Fontainebleau...

I had read somewhere that travel is not about the destination, it is all about the journey that takes you there. Obviously that implies and includes the experiences that you encounter on the way. For me, besides the destination and the journey, savouring local food is an essential of the entire experience.
Fonty is no different, as far as food goes!


And so, as part of our exploration of France, we sampled some authentic French cuisine at L'Ovale, right across the Chateau on Rue de France last night...
For me, it was a classic saumon (salmon) steak with salad, gravy and a big bowl of mashed potatoes with chives. The salmon was fresh and tasted of the sea. The mashed potatoes were flavourful and creamy...


Accompanying my meal was a big glass of a Virgin Mojito, what more could I have asked for an unusually warm evening...


L'Ovale was teeming with people for an early dinner...


A wine map of France...


Last afternoon, after spending time cycling around Fontainebleau-Avon and spending an hour at the Grand Canal, it was time food. I headed to a bistro on Rue Grande for lunch. I ordered a plat du jour - meal of the day...
My meal had toast with foie-gras and raspberry sauce for the starters...


And then the very delectable steak with fries and salad for the main course...



This evening, out of curiosity, we headed to an eatery that calls itself an Indian restaurant - Le Maharaja, which it turned out, was run by Bangladeshis...
The food itself was bad, no way closer to what Indian cuisine is. The naan was very crisp and not soft and fluffy as it is supposed to be. The daal (lentil gravy) was a bit sweet and full of oil. The palak-paneer which is supposed to be chunks of cottage cheese cooked in pureed spinach was a disappointment. The spinach wasn't pureed. And the worst - we could not get the taste of spinach, instead all we tasted was tonnes of spice - I am sure to end up with a bad throat tonight. This probably is Bangladeshi food being masqueraded as Indian. I would rate Le Maharaja at 0.1 out 10!

Notwithstanding the lousy experience at Le Maharaja, the delectable cuisine in Fontainebleau reminded me of this quote:
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener


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